Portable disposable cigarette butt reducing ash tray

ABSTRACT

A receptacle for disposing a cigarette butt, comprising a 5 ply paper body constructed of flame-resistant confetti paper having a floor, wherein the floor has a cigarette butt extinguishing region; an 15 ply insulated pad located at the cigarette butt extinguishing region, wherein the 15 ply insulated pad has a raised surface feature to improve friction and insulation; and four flaps for folding perpendicular to the floor to form a receptacle, wherein the flaps are subsequently folded over the cigarette butt extinguishing region for waste disposal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Continuation Application claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 12/560,664 filed Sep. 16, 2009, which claims priority to Provisional U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/098,855, filed on Sep. 22, 2008, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Ash trays, specifically disposable ash trays, allow smokers to put-out burning cigarettes, wrap the left-over butt and properly transport to a trash receptacle instead of simply smashing it on the ground and leaving the cigarette-butt as litter. Ash trays that are not portable and disposable requires a smoker to constantly roving to find a place to smoke that is not indoors or near the public. Because of this roving, the smoker is left to smash the cigarette on the ground to avoid putting a burning item in a trash can and potentially starting a fire. Contrary to law, smokers almost always leave the cigarette butt causing litter as well as unsightly conditions.

SUMMARY

To achieve the foregoing, and in accordance with the purpose of the presently preferred embodiment as described herein, the present application provides a receptacle comprising a paper body having a floor, wherein the floor has a cigarette butt extinguishing region; an insulated pad located at the cigarette butt extinguishing region; and a plurality of flaps for folding perpendicular to the floor to form a receptacle.

Other advantages of the presently preferred embodiment will be set forth in part in the description and in the drawings that follow, and, in part will be learned by practice of the presently preferred embodiment. The presently preferred embodiment will now be described with reference made to the following Figures that form a part hereof. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the presently preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A presently preferred embodiment will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a disassembled embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an unfolded elevation flat view of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a partially folded perspective view of the embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a folded perspective view of the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a paper body 10 described as a portable, disposable and cigarette butt reducing ash tray that is a receptacle preferably made from flame-resistant confetti paper and is biodegradable. Folding the paper body 10 with a flap 18 on each side of a square base forms a cube that is open at one end, where the square base has a side of S length and therefore an area of S². In a presently preferred embodiment, each of the flap 18 also measures S² with the exception of two cropped corners and forms one side of the cube following the perpendicular positioning of the flap 18 when compared to the square base. In another embodiment, each of the flap 18 corners is not cropped. In yet another embodiment, one of the flap 18 lengths is one and one-half times S, so that one side of the cube it is ½ times longer than the other three. The ½ longer side is then folded back out of the way and serves the purpose of protect the hand and/or finger when folded in the cube shape. The ½ longer side can also form part of a locking mechanism when preparing the paper body 10 for disposal.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a disassembled embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the paper body 10 has a top ply 12 and a bottom ply 14 with an insulated pad 16 disposed therebewteen. In an alternate embodiment the insulated pad 16 is attached to the paper body 10 by use of an adhesive that is preferably biodegradable. In this alternative embodiment, the insulated pad 16 may be 15 ply and the paper body 10 may be 5 ply so that when the four flaps 18 are folded down onto the insulated pad 16, it is 40 ply thick, i.e., a 5 ply bottom+15 ply insulated pad+(4×5 ply flaps). Further, the insulated pad 16 preferably contains a raised logo or other form for the purpose of not only acting like a friction surface on which to extinguish a cigarette, but also to provide space for air to increase the insulation properties of the insulated pad 16.

FIG. 3 is an unfolded elevation flat view of the embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, in the presently preferred embodiment the paper body 10 is preferable constructed with length of sides d1 at approximately 8 centimeters. The length of the outer flap d2 may be 2.5 centimeters. The flattened corner d3 may be 1.5 centimeters. There is a “v” cut (not labeled), between the flaps 18 that may be 1 centimeter. When the flaps 18 are bent upward to for the cube ash tray, a floor 20 is preferably framed having a 4 centimeter square on each side. The insulated ply 16 may be 3 centimeters on ea each side and concentric with the floor 20. In an alternate embodiment, the floor 20 may be 4 centimeters on each side, and 3 flaps 18 may be also 4 centimeters on each side where a forth flap 18 measures a preferable extra 2 centimeters long. In this alternate embodiment, all four flaps 18 fold nicely onto the floor 20 that has the insulated pad 16, where the forth flap 18 has an extra 2 centimeters to fold over and preferably lock into the bottom of the paper body using a well understood slit/flap combination.

FIG. 4 is a partially folded perspective view of the embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, the paper body 10 is folded in a pre-used packaged that resembles a rectangular shape. In an alternative embodiment, the four flaps 18 may be placed covering the floor 20 to resemble a square shape is takes-up half the length of the rectangular folded shape, but doubles the width.

FIG. 5 is a folded perspective view of the embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5, a user places a cigarette onto the insulated pad 16 to extinguish the flame burning inside the cigarette. The user then folds the flaps 18 over the floor 20 and extinguished cigarette butt. The folding of the flaps 18 over the floor 20 and the cigarette butt has the additional affect of depriving the cigarette butt from additional oxygen and further aided in the flame extinguishing process to reduce the likelihood of causes additional harms when disposing of the used cigarette butt, for example, catching a flammable substance on fire that may come into contact with the used cigarette butt. Having the cigarette butt on the floor 20, once the flaps 18 are folded in place, the cigarette butt is sandwiched between 20 ply of material. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the flaps 18 do not fully fold over the floor 20, but rather meet in the middle of the square shaped paper body 10. In an alternate embodiment, the flaps 18 preferable fold completely over the floor 20 to assist in the extinguishing process as well as aid in the locking mechanism.

A number of embodiments have been described. It will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presently preferred embodiment, such as various sizes of paper body 10 to account for holding and disposing of various numbers of cigarette butts where the presently preferred embodiment contemplates up to 4 cigarette butts. Therefore, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. 

I claim:
 1. A receptacle comprising: a paper body having a centrally located floor, wherein said floor defines a square-shaped cigarette extinguishing region; an insulated pad located at said cigarette extinguishing region; and a plurality of flaps integral with said paper body and extending radially from said cigarette extinguishing region, said flaps being separate from one another and being configured for folding, in a use mode, perpendicular to said floor, such that sides of adjacent flaps contact each other to form said receptacle.
 2. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein said paper body is constructed from flame resistant confetti.
 3. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein, in a disposal mode, said flaps are folded over said cigarette extinguishing region to produce a generally square-shaped package for disposal of an extinguished cigarette butt.
 4. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein said paper body includes five plies.
 5. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein said insulated pad includes 15 plies.
 6. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein said insulated pad comprises a raised surface feature to improve friction and provide insulation.
 7. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein one of said flaps inserts into a slit-locking mechanism on a bottom of said paper body.
 8. A receptacle for disposing of a cigarette butt, the receptacle comprising: a five-ply paper body constructed of flame-resistant confetti paper having a floor, wherein said floor defines a square-shaped cigarette extinguishing region; a 15 ply insulated pad located at said cigarette extinguishing region, wherein said 15 ply insulated pad has a raised surface feature to improve friction and provide insulation; and four flaps integral with said paper body and extending radially from said cigarette extinguishing region, said flaps being separate from one another and being configured for folding, in a use mode, perpendicular to said floor, such that sides of adjacent flaps contact each other to form said receptacle, and wherein, in a disposal mode, said flaps are subsequently folded over said cigarette extinguishing region for disposal of an extinguished cigarette butt.
 9. A disposable receptacle comprising: a paper body having a generally square shape with four sides, a centrally located floor, and a plurality of flaps extending radially from said floor; wherein said generally square shape includes truncated corners; wherein each side of said paper body defines a notch formed at the mid-point of each side, such that imaginary lines drawn from an apex of each notch to an apex of an adjacent notch define said floor of said paper body, said floor defining a square-shaped region, said floor being oriented at an angle relative to a side of the paper body; and wherein said imaginary lines, said notches, and said sides define a plurality of flaps, the flaps, in a use mode, being folded upright along said imaginary lines to define a receptacle and, in a disposal mode, being folded over said floor to encapsulate contents located thereon.
 10. The receptacle of claim 9, wherein said paper body comprises side having a length d1, and wherein the floor comprises sides having a length of about ½ d1.
 11. The receptacle of claim 9, further comprising an insulated pad, said insulated pad being sized to cover a majority of said floor and being adhered thereto.
 12. The receptacle of claim 9, wherein said insulated pad comprises a raised surface feature to improve friction and provide insulation.
 13. The receptacle of claim 11, wherein said paper body defines a first thickness, and said insulated pad comprises a second thickness of about three times the thickness of said paper body.
 14. The receptacle of claim 11, further comprising a second paper body having the same size and shape as said first paper body, said first and second paper bodies enveloping said insulated pad. 